Cementing apparatus for workpieces, such as shoes

ABSTRACT

The apparatus automatically applies a uniform width band of cement about the periphery of the bottom surface of a workpiece, such as a shoe, in response to the positioning of a shoe against the cement nozzle and upon a feed wheel that is located to one side of the nozzle so as to be free of contamination by the cement. The cement nozzle comprises a plurality of individually movable nozzle elements resiliently responsive to the surface conditions of the shoe bottom so that cement will be spread in accordance with the high and low surfaces. The nozzle elements actuate a control follower which is connected into a control system for starting and stopping the supply of cement whereby a uniform band of cement is deposited on the shoe bottom as the shoe is manipulated on the feed wheel and caused to travel about its periphery from a starting point and moved around the sides, the heel and the toe.

Unite States latent A ll n 1 2,319,476 5/1943 Ray 113/2 2,548,456 4/1951 Wells... 118/3 2,843,863 7/1958 Weisz 118/2 X Primary Examiner-John P. McIntosh Attorney-Gravely, Lieder & Woodruff ABSTRACT: The apparatus automatically applies a uniform width band of cement about the periphery of the bottom surface of a workpiece, such as a shoe, in response to the positioning of a shoe against the cement nozzle and upon a feed wheel that is located to one side of the nozzle so as to be free of contamination by the cement. The cement nozzle comprises a plurality of individually movable nozzle elements resiliently responsive to the surface conditions of the shoe bot tom so that cement will be spread in accordance with the high and low surfaces. The nozzle elements actuate a control follower which is connected into a control system for starting and stopping the supply of cement whereby a uniform band of cement is deposited on the shoe bottom as the shoe is manipu' lated on the feed wheel and caused to travel about its periphery from a starting point and moved around the sides, the heel and the toe.

PAIENTED U562! an 3-;628500 INVENTOR GORDON E. MA TL OCK PATENIED m2! SHEET 2 BF 3 INVENTOR PATENTEU meet an 5 6 SHEET 3 BF 3 FIG. 3.

INVENTOR GORDON 5. 4,4 TL QCK ATTORNEYS CEMENTING APPARATUS FOR WORKPIECES, SUCH AS SHOES This invention relates to cementing apparatus used in the manufacture of shoes and is particularly concerned with novel means in such apparatus for the automatic application of a band or strip of cement in response to the positioning of a shoe against the nozzle and an adjacent feed wheel.

THE PROBLEMS IN THE ART The present conventional apparatus for applying a band or strip of cement on shoe bottoms requires the operator to push or step down on a treadle with one foot in order to activate the supply of cement, and at the same time to manipulate the shoe under the nozzle so that the entire bottom passes under the nozzle when laying the cement about the bottom periphery. This foot operation keeps the operators body weight mostly upon the other leg causing a continuous unbalanced condition. The necessary unbalance in body stance contributes greatly to fatigue and that results increased poor quality of work and increased time of cement application. This is a limiting factor to the operator in developing and maintaining skill and continuous high quality of workmanship. The required manner of foot operation has contributed to operator health problems and leads to swollen legs, leg ache and varicose veins as the working position needed shifts the body weight mainly to one leg. Operator productivity is rapidly curtailed under such conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION The present apparatus comprises a plurality of cementdelivery nozzles. each resiliently mounted so as to yield in conformity with the surface conditions of the shoe bottom, means to sense the yielding response of the nozzles as a shoe bottom is pressed against the nozzles, control means actuated by the nozzle-sensing means and operable to start and continue cement delivery to the nozzles so that a uniform band or strip of cement is applied to the desired surface of the shoe bottom, and a driven feed wheel spaced from the nozzles to carry the shoe past the nozzles and assist the operator in manipulating the contour of the shoe under the nozzles. The feed wheel is located so it does not become contaminated with the cement and cause the cement to reach surfaces of the upper where it would result in rejects. The invention is principally directed to the nozzle motion sensing means and the control apparatus whose operation is controlled thereby.

Therefore, a principal feature and object of the present invention is to provide apparatus to carry out the cement-applying functions automatically and overcome the problems connected with foot-operated types of shoe bottom cementing machines. It is an important object of the invention to permit an operator to stand normally on both feet so as to avoid fatigue and produce better results. A further object of this invention is to provide improved apparatus to enhance the skill on bottom-cementing operations and result in a superior cycle of workmanship over the more conventional apparatus.

The present invention may be best understood upon reference to the drawings which illustrate a presently preferred apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of only so much of the cementing apparatus as will serve to show the general arrangement of the parts and components which illustrate the principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus taken along line 2-2 ofFIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic disclosure of the control system incorporated in the resent apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE APPARATUS In FIG. 1 the cementing apparatus is assembled on a floormounted pedestal 10 the upper end or head 11 of which is located at a convenient height for an operator in standing position. A feed wheel 12 having a friction tire 13 mounted on its periphery is attached to a drive shaft 14. The shaft M extends into the pedestal and is driven by a motor (not necessary to show) equipped with a speed control to regulate its rate of rotation to suit the skill of the operator in manually manipulating a shoe S held thereagainst'along its sides. The feed wheel 12 is located in spaced relation to the cement-applying nozzles.

An arm 15 ofthe pedestal head 11 supports a cement supply control valve I6 which is supplied with the cement through a conduit I7 from a source of cement under pressure from a suitable pump (not shown) carried by the pedestal I0. The valve 16 is provided with a rotary valve element '13 which opens and closes the cement flow passage P (FIG. 3) leading into the depending body 19 of the valve body outlet. The valve element 18 is periodically rotated by suitable motor means (FIG. 3) to open and close the cement flow passage P to the depending body portion 19.

The body portion 19 is mounted onto the upper surface of support structure 21 and a manifold 22 is attached to the lower surface from which extend a plurality of flexible cement feed tubes 23. Pivotally mounted by a pivot shaft 24 are a plurality of cement fingers 25 (five being seen in FIG. I) having cement-spreading nozzle means 26 at the outer ends. The flexible feed tubes 23 are connected to the nozzle means 26 and are capable of flexing the required amount to allow the fingers 25 to pivot upwardly from a first position in which the rear ends 25a are located adjacent a stop abutment 21a in the sup port structure 21. The structure 21 carries a block 27 from which project spring fingers 28, one finger being aligned with each nozzle finger 25 and acting to pivot it downwardly to the limit of the abutment 21a. Thus, the fingers 25 are able to move upwardly independently of each other to conform to and follow the surface conditions of the bottom of shoe S. A protective guard plate 29 is secured to the underside of the manifold block 22 to prevent damage to the feed tubes 23.

A bearing 30 is secured to the arm I5 by bracket 30A and carries a shaft 31. The forward or font end of the shaft is connected to a finger feeler arm 32, the outer end 33 of which rides on top of all of the fingers 25 so as to be movably responsive thereto with a light touch. The rearward end of shaft 3ll carries a rigid arm 34 in which a vernier knob 35 is threadedly mounted. A flexible motion amplifying arm 36 has its lower end 37 secured, as by rivets, to the rigid arm 34 such that it passes upwardly adjacent the end of the vernier knob 35 to an extended upper end 38 upon which an interrupter plate 39 is mounted. A light spring 40 is located at the base of the rigid arm 34 and is wrapped about the bearing shaft 30 so that it operates to move the arm 34 in a counterclockwise direction to hold the end 33 of the feeler arm 32 upon the group of fingers 25. Upward movement of all or any of the fingers 25 will thereby displace the feeler arm 32 and. move the interrupter plate 39 to the right (FIG. 2). Adjustment of the starting position of the plate 39 is effected through the vernier knob 35 so that a desired degree of movement of the fingers 25 can be easily achieved.

As is seen in FIG. I and 2, the interrupter plate 39 cooperates with a suitable control device All which is mounted on the upper end of bracket 30A and is operable to transmit a control signal to the control apparatus contained in a suitable housing H (schematically seen in FIG. 3) carried by the pedestal head 11. The control device ti and housing II are suitably positioned adjacent the cement valve I6 where ready access to the vernier knob 35 is obtained. The housing H contains components which will be described in connection with the schematic view of FIG. 3 to which reference will be directed.

THE CONTROL APPARATUS components which will be described in connection with the schematic view of FIG. 3 to which reference will be directed.

THE CONTROL APPARATUS In FIG. 3 the control device 41 is a suitably passaged block having a slot 42 cut therethrough to receive the interrupter plate 39. The opposite walls of the slot 42 are formed with axially aligned openings 43 and 44. The opening 43 is connected to an air supply conduit 45, while opening 44 is connected by a passage 46 to an air return conduit 47. The openings 43 and 44 create an air stream across the slot 42 which can be interrupted by the late 39, as will be more particularly set forth presently.

The control housing H is provided with a supply of air under pressure from a conduit 48. The pressure air passes through a filter device 49 and a lubricator device 50 to a shutoff valve 51 having a control knob 52 on the panel of the housing H. From the valve 51 the air passes to a first pressure regulator 53 having a control knob 52 on the panel of the housing H. From the From the valve 51 the air passes to a first pressure regulator 53 having a selector knob 54 on the housing panel. The air from the first regulator moves by a first conduit 56 to a normally open valve 57 and then by conduit 58 to the motor actuator 59 for the cement supply valve 16 (FIG. 2). A second conduit 60 from the first regulator 53 leads to a pressure gauge 55 located on the panel of housing H to provide a visual indication of the pressure, and to a second pressure regulator 61 having a control knob 62 on the housing panel. The regulator 61 is connected by branch conduit 61a to a second gauge 55a on the panel of the housing 1-1. The conduit 60 also connects with a normally closed diaphragm-type valve 63. From the valve 63 a conduit 64 connects with the motor actuator 59, and a short conduit 65 branches from the long conduit 64 and connects with the normally open valve 57.

The diaphragm valve 63 is connected from its diaphragm chamber side by the conduit 47 to the control device 41 adjacent the cement supply valve 16, as previously set forth. Thus, the conduit 47 dead ends in the valve 63 and is used to transmit the control signals from the device 41.

The pressure regulator 61 is connected by a conduit 66 to a volume control valve 67 having a selector knob 68 on the housing panel, and the transmitter conduit 45 is connected to the volume control valve 67. The air flow in conduit 45 passes across the slot 42 in the device 41 from opening 43 to opening 44 and creates a pressure in conduit 47 which is applied to the diaphragm in valve 63 to hold this valve open, whereupon the airflow from conduit 60 passes to conduit 64. Since the branch conduit 65 is shorter than conduit 64 the air flow will first close valve 57 and open an exhaust port 57a. This action of valve 57 and the air flow in conduit 64 will actuate motor means 59 to operate the cement valve 16 to closed position through the linkage 69. When the interrupter plate 39 blocks the airflow across the slot 42 of device 41 between openings 43 and 44, the air in conduit 47 will leak out at opening 44 and allow the valve 63 to move to its normally closed position. This action allows valve 57 to return to its normally open position, whereupon the motor means 59 will actuate the linkage 69 to open the cement valve 16 to supply cement from the supply conduit 17 to the nozzles 26 offingers 25.

OPERATION Referring to the drawings generally, it is to be understood that when no shoe S or workpiece is pressed upwardly against the cement applicator nozzles 26 the cement supply valve 16 stantly driven feed wheel 12 is set behind the working area of the nozzles 26 so no cement can be deposited on its friction tire to spoil the shoe upper.

When the shoe S is pressed upwardly under the nozzles 26, the fingers 25 will move upwardly to cause the feeler arm 32 to pivot clockwise (FIG. 2). This action causes the long arm 36 to amplify the movement of the fingers 25, and moves the interrupter plate 39 into the slot 42 of the control device 41. The upward pressure of the shoe S is opposed by the several springs 28 so that a suitable feel" is experienced by the operator. As the plate 39 blocks the air stream between openings 43 and 44 in the device 41 a signal is produced at valve 63 which results, as described in FIG. 3, in operation of motor means 59 to open cement supply valve 16, whereupon cement is forced through the flexible tubes 23 to the outlets in the group of nozzles 26.

At this time the operator has the shoe S in motion and is able, with the aid of the feed wheel 12, to manipulate the entire strip A of the shoe bottom past the nozzles 26 to apply a uniform strip of cement. Near the end of the strip A it is desired that the upward pressure of the shoe S be relaxed so that the valve may close. The cement will, however, continue to flow for a short time, but the operator can use this residual flow to complete the cement application to the strip A.

Since each operator has a personal technique in manipulating a shoe under the nozzles 26, the vernier knob 35 will allow visual adjustments to be obtained on the desired position of the interrupter plate 39.

While air pressure operated means has been described it is understood that the control device 41 may embody photoelectric means in which the interrupter plate 39 will break the light beam. In this control, the values 57 and 63 will be operated by solenoid means. In either case, the motor means 59 will be caused to respond in the manner described to actuate the cement supply valve 16 between open and closed positions. The important feature of the control system is that the upward pressure of the shoe or workpiece upon the cement applying nozzles energizes the cement supply valve 16 to open position. It is also understood that the tension of finger springs29 may be selected to vary the touch or feel of the hoe against the nozzles 26.

The present apparatus has the advantages that it relieves the operator of coordinating the usual foot operation during the application of cement. This results in reducing or eliminating a part of the otherwise required skill needed to turn out quality workpieces. With the present apparatus, if the operator allows the cement to skip the control device will signal the skip. This is an especially valuable advantage is manipulating a shoe bottom around the ball of the shoe and around the heel and toe area, as a skip in applying the cement causes poor outsole adhesion in these areas. The operator now may stand balanced on both feet which results in more firmly presenting the shoe to the cement-applying nozzles, and allows for better control of the shoe. Operator fatigue is decreased and productivity is thereby improved. The present apparatus requires less training time since there is no need to learn coordination of the starting and stopping of cement flow by the older foot operation. Thus improved operator concentration is achieved on eliminating cement skips or over supply, and savings in the amount of cement used can be realized.

It should now be understood in what manner the present apparatus operates to achieve the aims and objects of the invention. Certain modifications have been pointed out and others may come to mind after fully understanding the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for applying cement to the surface of a workpiece, the improvement which includes: a plurality of side-by-side cement-applying fingers supported for independent pivoting movement in a common direction toward and away from the workpiece; flexible tube means connected to each finger, a source of cement connected to all of said tube means; a control valve for said source of cement and operable to supply and stop the supply of cement from said source; motor means operably connected to said control valve, said motor means moving to open and close said control valve; a control system operably connected between said fingers and said motor means, said control system comprising a source of air under pressure, airflow-responsive means to condition said motor means to close said control valve and stop the supply of cement; an airflow-interrupting element independent of the workpiece and operable in said control system to interrupt the flow of air and open said control valve to supply cement to said fingers; and a finger motion sensing feeler element operatively connected to said airflow-interrupting element and engaged on said fingers, whereby manual manipulation of the workpiece to pivot any one of said plurality of fingers, causes said feeler element to move said airflow-interrupting element to interrupt the airflow at said airflow-responsive means and operate said motor means to open said control valve and supply cement to all of the fingers for application on the workpiece.

2. The improvement of claim ll wherein said airflow-responsive means includes a normally open valve to supply air to said motor means to open said cement control valve, a normally closed valve connected to said motor means to actuate the motor means to close said cement control valve on command, and an airflow control device under the influence of said airflow-interrupting element to actuate said normally closed valve to open position and close said normally open valve.

3. The improvement of claim 2. wherein said normally closed valve has an airflow connection with said normally open valve, whereby airflow through said normally closed valve serves to close said normally open valve.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF I Patent No. 3,628,500 Dated December 21, 1971 Invent r( Gordon E. Matlock It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Col. 2, line 45, after "or" and before "end", "font" should be cancelled and "front" substituted therefor.

Col. 3, lines 1-3 "THE CONTRQL APPARATUS components which will be described in connection with the schematic view of Fig. 3, to which reference will be directed" should be cancelled.

Col. 3., line 19, at the end of the line, cancel "From". Cancel lines 20 and 21 in their entirety.

Col. 4, line 42,after "the" and before "against", cancel "hoe" and substitute therefor "shoe".

Signed and sealed this 31th day of July 1972..

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD l LFLETCHER, JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commi ssioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 USCOMM-DC sows-ps9 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRlNTXNG OFFICE: I969 O-EGSfiQIN 

1. In apparatus for applying cement to the surface of a workpiece, the improvement which includes: a plurality of sideby-side cement-applying fingers supported for independent pivoting movement in a common direction toward and away from the workpiece; flexible tube means connected to each finger, a source of cement connected to all of said tube means; a control valve for said source of cement and operable to supply and stop the supply of cement from said source; motor means operably connected to said control valve, said motor means moving to open and close said control valve; a control system operably connected between said fingers and said motor means, said control system comprising a source of air under pressure, airflow-responsive means to condition said motor means to close said control valve and stop the supply of cement; an airflow-interrupting element independent of the workpiece and operable in said control system to interrupt the flow of air and open said control valve to supply cement to said fingers; and a finger motion sensing feeler element operatively connected to said airflow-interrupting element and engaged on said fingers, whereby manual manipulation of the workpiece to pivot any one of said plurality of fingers, causes said feeler element to move said airflow-interrupting element to interrupt the airflow at said airflow-responsive means and operate said motor means to open said control valve and supply cement to all of the fingers for application on the workpiece.
 2. The improvement of claim 1 wherein said airflow-responsive means includes a normally open valve to supply air to said motor means to open said cement control valve, a normally closed valve connected to said motor means to actuate the motor means to close said cement control valve on command, and an airflow control device under the influence of said airflow-interrupting element to actuate said normally closed valve to open position and close said normally open valve.
 3. The improvement of claim 2 wherein said normally closed valve has an airflow connection with said normally open valve, whereby airflow through said normally closed valve serves to close said normally open valve. 